New York City, the next decade: terrorism is more threatening than ever; skyscrapers are a cherished, defiant statement; underground concourses have multiplied because of the sense of security they provide; law enforcement and civil liberties groups clash over the proper boundary between public safety and personal freedom. That's the tenor of the times when NYPD forensic detective Dr. Phil D'Amato is called in to investigate an urgent case--squirrels missing from Central Park!

It sounded like a joke, but Phil soon discovers it's anything but. A new telecom technology can put implants into the brains of living squirrels to translate what they are seeing into computer-viewable images. But who's behind this surveillance breakthrough? Federal agencies or terrorists?

Phil's latest adventure pits personal loyalties against public responsibilities, privacy against freedom, security against animal rights, all against a backdrop of a near-future, post-9/11 New York City that is completely recognizable, even with its new generation of advanced cellular phones, free-standing holograms, tunneling technologies, transport systems, and forensic computers. The Pixel Eye offers a vision of a future we may all soon be living in.

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

In this breezily chilling story, Levinson's latest near-future SF thriller to feature NYPD forensic detective Dr. Phil D'Amato (after 2002's The Consciousness Plague), D'Amato gets sucked into the Department of Homeland Security's national war on terror after he starts investigating missing and drugged squirrels in Central Park. In an attempt to gather information as unobtrusively as possible, research into using squirrels and hamsters as recording devices is underway at labs across the country. Yet if recording devices can be implanted in animals, can't they also be used as bombs? And if so, how do you stop, say, a squirrel bomber when you don't know if any of the squirrels is actually wired to explode-and even if you know one is, how do you identify it? These are the questions on D'Amato's mind as he races from New York to Boston to exciting Wilmington, Del., attempting to put the pieces together before catastrophe strikes. If the characters aren't all that three-dimensional, well, maybe that's a good thing. In this age of heightened security, the thought of keeping an eye out for suspicious-looking rodents is enough to send a shiver down most readers' spines.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Paul Levinson's Phil D'Amato Series

"A satisfying blend of murder mystery, police procedure, and science fiction . . . This a mystery/science fiction novel that works - any way you look at it."--The Orlando Sentinel on The Consciousness Plague

"As a genre-bending blend of police procedural and science fiction, The Silk Code delivers on its promises."--The New York Times Book Review

Most helpful customer reviews

I invite you to be amused and intrigued at the same time by reading Paul Levinson's new book "The Pixel Eye" featuring New York Forensic Detective Phil D'Amato. It's a different world today than it was on September 10, 2001. Paranoia runs deep in many of us and this book is a great book for the paranoid.We have all seen squirrels running around the park collecting their nuts. What would happen if those squirrels were fitted with a brain chip and could monitor our every move or get into the nooks and crannies of a major office complex or the heart of city government and set off bombs? This brings a whole new dimension to the old adage "I wish I could be a fly on the wall." Levinson explores that possibility in a book that is a real page-turner. It is well-crafted. You really don't know who the "bad guy" is until well toward the end. There are suspects on every page.When you read the first chapter, you can't help but to chuckle at the concept of missing squirrels and the importance that the New York police seem to have placed on this matter. But as the tale unfolds, it becomes clear that something is terribly awry and it is up to Phil D'Amato to put the pieces together and resolve the issue.We do learn who the culprit is by the end of the book, however it closes in such a way that a sequel seems almost guaranteed. I enjoyed the book. It entertained me. There was an element of intrigue and it also made me laugh. It made me speculate on all of the possibilities of bugged squirrels and rodents running around my back yard.

The NYC Parks Commissioner reported that squirrels seem to have vanished from popular locales like Central Park, Prospect Park, and Van Cortlandt Park. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Jack Dugan, not willing to ignore anything since 9/11, assigns NYPD forensic detective Phil D'Amato to investigate. Phil interviews park workers who insist there is a dramatic drop in population without a rise in corpses. The cop also visits a few parks, but sees nothing out of the ordinary. He wonders if perhaps it is like the 1980s restaurant case involving cats as chicken.However, Phil soon learns that serendipitous research into using squirrels and hamsters as recording devices is underway at labs across the country. He becomes concerned that if rodents can be used as recorders, can they also be used as terrorist bombs? Perhaps it is part of the post WTC syndrome, but a panicky Phil begins a search of the eastern seaboard in an attempt to insure squirrel-carrying bombardiers don't lead to WTC II.THE PIXEL EYE is a frightening scenario as Paul Levinson makes a strong case that nothing is safe in a world in which personal values push a cause as more important than people are. The story line may sound satirical and inane, but is far from it as the audience will quickly become as convinced as the hero that this squirrely technology can happen. Though the characters except for Phil are never fully developed, readers will be extra careful before feeding the birds and other creatures as that animal might prove to be the one that bites the hand that feeds it.Harriet Klausner

Lean, mean, and funny. This mystery/sci-fi concoction got it just right -- had me page-turning, chilled, laughing, contemplative about our future, all at the same time. And the New York City ambience is top-drawer. I could feel the energy of the city -- the music, the traffic, the crush -- on lots of pages (I've been to NYC many times, and love it). Eagerly looking forward to Levinson's next.

Paul Levinson's very human forensic detective, Phil D'Amato, is on his way to becoming one of the more memorable characters in detective fiction. This one puts Phil squarely in the path of a nightmare scenario which, one can only hope, is still a long way off. Watching him maneuver in, under, and around is pure joy.

Each of Paul Levinson's books gets better and better. He is comfortable in the skin of his charcters and the plot line in "Pixel Eye" is one of the most fascinating to date. I will never look at squirrels in the park quite the same way, without wondering what may be looking back at me! Highly recommended.